Wednesday, April 24, 2013

365 Comics...114: She-Hulks #1 (2010)

It's an affable book and all, as any Jennifer Walters-starring series (or in this case, mini-series) should be, but the sheer amount of Hulk derivatives and is getting kind of ridiculous. So there's Hulk (Bruce Banner), She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters), Red Hulk (General Ross), Red She-Hulk (Betty Ross), Skaar (Son of Hulk from the Planet Hulk storyline) and Savage She-Hulk (Lyra, daughter of alternate 23rd Century Hulk... who is not the Maestro [Future Imperfect Hulk], apparently). Sigh, I see what they're trying to do, they're trying to build a Superman or Batman-style "Hulk family", and even though I have a well-established lack of fondness for Hulk, all this deviation is really diluting the character. I mean, it's comics so they all can coexist at the same time, but General Ross becoming Red Hulk should be a storyline, not a permanent addition. And now there's three different She-Hulks running around the 616?

This was my first exposure to Lyra and while I'm not offended by her, I don't think she's necessary. Here she's used as a sidekick for She-Hulk, and while I've never really seen Jennifer in the mentor role before (so, something new), it doesn't seem to be the right move for the character. There's a pretense for her to be in that role, tasked with cleaning up some mess from some story from some other series, (the two of them are hunting down some bad guys), it just doesn't seem... right. And the Lyra going to high school thing, while a cute sequence, seems like a Mean Girls riff that doesn't seem appropriate for the character (and I don't even really know her).

I may give Red She-Hulk a go at some point, but for the interim I'll stick with Jen in FF.